Overdose deaths in Ontario increasingly involve more than one drug, new report says
Global News
An increasing number of overdose deaths in Ontario involves the use of more than one drug, with the combination of opioids and stimulants proving to be especially dangerous.
An increasing number of overdose deaths in Ontario involves the use of more than one drug, with the combination of opioids and stimulants proving to be especially dangerous, a new report says.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, attributing deaths to two or more substances rather than just one drug has become more common, new research from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario shows.
From 2018 to 2022, the monthly rate of overdose deaths involving one substance increased by 75 per cent, deaths involving two substances increased by 167 per cent, while the rate of deaths involving three or more substances increased by 186 per cent, the report released Thursday says.
The researchers found that 12,115 accidental overdose deaths across the province were directly attributed to opioids, stimulants, alcohol and benzodiazepines during that time frame.
“Now, the most common situation is that opioids and stimulants together are contributing to death,” said Tara Gomes, an epidemiologist with Unity Health and investigator with the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, and one of the report’s authors.
“But we’ve also seen this increase in deaths where there are three or more substances involved – an opioid, a stimulant and a benzodiazepine or alcohol – and that has really complicated a number of things, including the fact that when people are overdosing from multiple substances it can be very hard to know how best to support them.”
Opioids, largely in the form of illicit fentanyl, contribute to a vast majority of overdose deaths in the province. They were found in nearly 84 per cent of drug toxicity deaths – more than 10,000 people.
Stimulants were found in nearly 62 per cent of overdose deaths, while alcohol was found in 13 per cent and benzodiazepines in nine per cent, the report found.
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